Acknowledgements

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Section Four: How to Determine the Correct Answer

Audio-visual version

Section Four: How to Determine the Correct Answer

Multiple Choice

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

MultipleChoice

4How todetermine thecorrect answer

Try answering Activities Two, Three, and Four, using these tips to help you choose the correct answer.

Remember to read the question stem first, to give yourself clues of what to look for in the extract provided.

Text version

Choosing an answer can be difficult when you aren’t sure of the options or when there isn’t one that immediately stands out as the most correct answer. Luckily, there are effective techniques you can follow to help you identify the correct answer.

As mentioned in Section Three, for each question there will be one or more distractors and one or more correct answers, but one will be more correct than the other. You may also have the option of choosing more than one answer. Make sure you read your instructions carefully to see whether you must choose only one answer or more than one answer.

True or False questions:

Even when you are sure of the answer, read the question carefully, especially if there is a negative expressed.

All parts of the statement must be true to select true as your answer. If only part of the statement is true, you should select false.Example:Students at Curtin come from a range of different backgrounds, but they all have the same experience of University when they begin their degrees.
The first part of the question stem is true, but the second part is not. Therefore, your answer should be false.

Identify cues between the question stem and the answers, such as:

Verbal association of a repeated key word.

Grammatical pattern is connected correctly.

Topic is consistent with test subject.Example: A water-type extinguisher is suitable for putting out a fire caused by burning all of the following except:
A. alcohol
B. cotton
C. paper
D. wood
E. all of the above

In the example, you may recognise one or more answers to be correct and so you may hastily choose ‘all of the above’. However, you have two cues that E cannot be the answer:

The question stem states: ‘all of the following except’; therefore, ‘all of the above’:
– does not make sense logically.
– nor is it grammatically correct.

Interpretation of a diagram, table, or chart:

Analyse the question stem first to determine its information.

Make quick notes to organise key factors.

Make mental notes of any associated formulae or theories or principles.
• Note whether there are similar key words in the question stem and answer options.Example: This pie chart shows how a student spent their time on an average day during study week. The question involves interpreting the diagram to calculate how many hours Mark spent studying. If an eighth of the pie graph was equal to two hours, Mark therefore would have studied a total of eight hours that day reading, revising, and writing.

Scenario or Case Study:

Relate to your topic of study for associated theories and principles.

Determine whether it requires inductive or deductive analysis.

Consider logical conclusions.Example: Janet is struggling with her university, work, and personal commitments. She notices that she is falling behind in her studies and feels stressed about managing everything at once.
What can Janet do to improve her situation?
a.) Stop seeing all of her friends and family and focus only on study.
b.) Drop out of university without consulting anyone first.
c.) Talk to Student Services about the issues she is currently facing and the services they can provide to assist her.
d.) Refresh herself with a new hairstyle.C is the correct answer, as it follows the same logical and grammatical structure as the question stem.

Subjective:

Make a mental list of associated theories and principles.

Note which of these theories or principles can be applied to any of the answer options.

Read the extract given, with theory or principle in mind.

Find connections between the main idea in the extract and the answer options.Example: This multiple choice question has been taken from a “Child Development for Educators” exam.
The question is specific to the influence of nature vs. nurture in child development.
Which example illustrates the influence of nature?
A.) Fourteen-year-old Deborah is starting to grow pubic hair, and she’s just had her first menstrual period.
B.) Two-year-old Sophia is learning to speak two languages because her parents speak Spanish at home, but everyone at her preschool speaks English.
C.) Ten-year-old Bart loves being outdoors. As far back as he can remember, his family has gone camping almost every weekend during the summer months.
D.) Eight-year-old Yannie goes to his Aunt Jane’s house after school every day. As he watches television, Jane gives him as much candy and other sweets as he wants, and so he is becoming increasingly overweight.
The correct answer is A, as this pertains to a natural physical influence, rather than environmental, or nurturing, influences on a child’s development, such as language, camping, and diet.

When you have exhausted these techniques and you are still unsure, the following tips may enhance your chances of selecting the correct answer:

Absolute qualifiers such as none, never, all, and always generally are not in the correct answer. More likely, the correct answer will include qualifiers such as most, some, and usually.

Extreme options are less likely than the more moderate or middle-range, such as for number answers.

If there are two very similar answers, one of these is the more likely answer than the other distractors.

Humorous answers are not common, but if included, are normally distractors.

‘None of the above’ or ‘all of the above’ is often the correct answer.

Answering multiple choice questions isn’t always about memorising facts. Multiple choice tests are also about using critical thinking to choose and apply principles, theories, and formulae to a given problem or situation.

Try answering Activities Two, Three, and Four using these tips to help you choose the correct answer.
Remember to read the question stem first, to give yourself clues of what to look for in the extract provided.

Click on the NEXT PAGE button at the bottom of the screen to complete Section Five.